Jorhat, Feb. 24: The Rowriah airport here will be closed from March 15 to April 15 for maintenance of the runway by the Indian Air Force.

Letters by the Indian Air Force to both the airline operators in Jorhat — Air India and JetLite — stated that the runway would be closed for a month for repairs and maintenance.

The Rowriah airport here is under the air force.

Following the letter issued on January 17, both the airlines have stopped the booking of flights from March 15 till April 15 and have cancelled tickets of passengers booked for flights during this time.

An official of one of the airlines said this was undue harassment to the people.

“We tried to negotiate with the air force authorities in the last one month to allow us to operate a small aircraft on these days, but they are not willing to do so. Finally, we have contacted those who had booked tickets with us, cancelled them and stopped further booking,” the official said.

An air force official at the Jorhat air force station in Rowriah refused to comment on the issue.

Another airlines official said the runway was being resurfaced and was in need of maintenance.

“The air force has been doing repairs; even the runway and the taxi track has been lengthened since October. Unless the pilot is very experienced, it would be unsafe for aircraft to land here. However, aircraft of the Indian Air Force will be landing as they are not civilian craft,” the official said.

Air India operates three flights to and from Calcutta and two to and from Guwahati, taking the total to five flights every week and about 22 flights per month.

JetLite operates five flights a week to and from Calcutta and and another five to and from Guwahati.

An Air India official said frequent cancellation of flights was already taking a toll on the airlines.

The air force had stopped all flights on weekends because of the maintenance for almost four months now and this was harming the reputation of the airlines further.

A JetLite official said the closure would mean undue harassment for the passengers here.

A passenger who had booked round-trip JetLite tickets to Calcutta was upset at the cancellation.

“I had booked the tickets long back to get a concession. Now, I have to go all the way to Guwahati or Dibrugarh for a flight and this is just undue harassment,” she said.